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Charcuterie boards are the perfect appetizer for events and get-togethers, but if you're bored of cheese and meat, you don't have to pass up on these mouthwatering snack displays. Try making an exciting board featuring perfectly paired cheeses and chocolates. The key to success is thinking carefully about what items to pair together, in order to create balanced flavors that blend well in your mouth.

Matthew Rose, ACS CCP, CCSE, and partner at , sat down with Daily Meal and provided some exclusive insights into how to really make chocolate and cheese pairings sing. He says that the type of cheese you pair with chocolate depends on how much cacao is in the bar. The mild and sweet flavors of milk chocolate can work well with milder cheeses.



On the other hand, if it's you're dealing with, the intensity and layered flavor notes make it a prime candidate for stronger cheeses, such as an intense washed rind cheese or nutty alpine varieties. If you're a fan of chocolate bars with caramel, fruit, nuts, or other inclusions, Rose says that "Chocolate with added flavors and other food items [..

.] can lend itself to a very interesting pairing experimentation". Instead of just focusing on the darkness of the chocolate, you'll likely have to experiment more to successfully balance all the elements.

Pair lower cacao chocolates with milder cheeses — higher-cacao brands make delicious grown-up partners for cheese. Milk chocolates generally contain less than 50% cocoa solids (though inexpensi.

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